White Cites Full Roster as Reason Keeping Fighters Busy Has Become Difficult

John Dodson put on a dominant showing on Saturday night against Darrell Montague at UFC 166.

"The Magician" worked behind his highly touted power to earn an impressive knockout in the first round of the flyweight tilt. It was Dodson's first showing since suffering a setback against Demetrious Johnson in their 125-pound title bout at UFC on Fox 6 back in January.

10 months had passed between the two bouts, and while the majority of extended layoffs for fighters come as a result of injury, that wasn't the case for Dodson. The 29-year-old was in perfect health as he waited for a fight to be lined up.

It just so happens that particular call came much later than he would have hoped for.

Following the post-fight press conference at UFC 166, Dana White was asked about the situation regarding Dodson's situation and the UFC President cited the promotion's roster as the culprit.

According to White the roster has reached a point where keeping every fighter busy has become an issue and he addressed the matter in-depth when speaking with the media in attendance.

"I keep telling you guys our roster is too full," White explained. "Guys have to get fights and every time after a show when we cut a guy, people say 'F*** you Dana White, you're an idiot.' Shut the f*** up and let us run our business. The roster is too full.

"We want to be good to the guys who deserve us being good to. Guys like [Yushin] Okami. I like Okami. I like him a lot and he's a great guy. But when guys lose and are at a certain point of their careers or whatever the case may be, they have to be cut so guys like Dodson can continue to fight. We are in a situation where if a guy doesn't fight, we still have to pay them. That's not good either. Guys want to fight. Guys like Dodson want to stay busy and active. They want to fight."

There are fighters who are sitting on the hot seat coming into every UFC event and several had poor showings on Saturday in Houston.

While the organization doesn't make those particular decisions until several days after each card, it will be interesting to see who lives to fight another day inside the Octagon and who falls victim to the chopping block.

Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless noted otherwise.